


Let's Go Steal Us Some Rain--The Everyone's Point of View Job

by crayonbreakygal



Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 23:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6349753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is from everyone’s point of view what happened when a con goes wrong.  They all have different takes and slightly different memories. Takes place during Season four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Go Steal Us Some Rain--The Everyone's Point of View Job

Let’s Go Steal Us Some Rain

I’m guessing this could have happened in season four, after The Queen’s Gambit Job, but before The Office Job. And dammit, I want that sofa back in the office, so I put it there. Hardison and his remodeling be damned. This is from everyone’s point of view what happened when a con goes wrong. They all have different takes and slightly different memories. Enjoy!

Eliot

“Let’s go steal us some rain.”

When Hardison had said that to Eliot, he laughed. How on earth could you steal something that is natural? Well, they ended up stealing just that. Of course, not in reality, but still, it was rain. Just rain that had already fallen by the bucketful. Who knew that it was a commodity? Water, dammit. And that people could lie, cheat and steal because of rain. He’d seen crazier things in his life. Nothing he had wanted to repeat with his partners in crime. Or his partners in good deeds should be what they were.

Hardison sat, typing his little heart out while Parker sat and giggled at some book she was reading. Yes, she read. He had no idea what would amuse her. Must either deal with money or jewels. Was that a manual? She was laughing at a manual?

Stretching his shoulder, he winced in pain at the movement. The doc told him that he had to immobilize the shoulder after injuring it in the last job. Sometimes he wondered if his body could take any more punishment. It hurt something fierce, but had settled to a dull roar. Sophie had fussed over him the day before, but he shrugged her off, telling her that he was perfectly OK and could take care of himself. She finally backed off, but not without glaring at him for at least the next hour, searching for signs of distress. It took so much out of him just to act natural. Not that she didn’t have injuries of her own to recover from.

Sophie usually didn’t encounter the rough elements of their jobs. It was his job to get them in and out safely. Yes, they were all safe from the last job. Only everyone was sporting some kind of injury. Injuries heal, trust does not. The bruise on Sophie’s jaw looked to still ache. She probably had others that she wouldn’t tell him about, but there was only so much he could do unless he pushed her. It had been bad for her, bad enough that she hadn’t spoken to any of them for over a day. Parker seemed to be her own, cheery self, if just a bit subdued. Her ankle still was a bit swollen, which was why she had it propped on the couch, ice still covering it. He had made sure it wasn’t broken, but the bad sprain was enough in his book.

Hardison kept tapping along, pulling up records from around the world to make sure that their tracks were covered. At least he didn’t have a concussion. It was close. He was sure that the hacker’s head still ached. The bottle of pills sitting beside the keyboard was evidence that all was not right. And he wasn’t even there in the lobby, having achieved the knock to the head the day before the con finished.

Leave it to Hardison to make sure the job was thoroughly completed. It hadn’t affected his mood though. He had joked around with Eliot not ten minutes before, letting Eliot wait on him hand and feet. Parker had done the same thing. The both of them would milk this until he screamed at them. That might take a while though. He was the reason they were injured. Him.

Nate was the one that he was worried about the most. Throwing caution to the wind, Nate had thrown himself in front of a bystander and Sophie, taking a bullet to the leg. It had gotten crazy in that building. The guy they were taking on meant trouble, more trouble than they were equipped to handle. Nate was propped up on the other side of the sofa, leg bandaged securely.

Nate had told him that it was not Eliot’s fault that he was injured. Sophie had backed Nate up of course. Both Parker and Hardison had told him also. It just didn’t sit right with him. Eliot took the bullet, no one else. He couldn’t be in two places at once.

In the chaos, he had lost sight of Nate and Sophie, sprinting with Parker to make the exit before the bad guy did. The lobby was just in their sights when Eliot saw the gun. It wasn’t security, it wasn’t some cop, it was the mark. There was no indication that the mark was violent at all, or that he owned a gun. Hardison screamed in the comm so loudly, he thought his ear wouldn’t recover.

The mark pulled it in the lobby in frustration and turned to fire Nate and Sophie’s way. Most people do not have training in firing a weapon. This guy was no exception. A young woman not any older than Parker had been in the line of fire. Nate tackled her to the ground, along with Sophie, taking the bullet in the leg. Eliot screamed gun not three seconds before, at least giving Nate a chance. Too many people around. Too many targets for the guy to hit. They hadn’t known he was that unstable. They hadn’t known.

Pushing Parker down and to the side, Eliot had run into the guy full force, knocking him all the way across the lobby. He had hit his shoulder so forcefully; it had popped out of the socket. Screaming in anger and pain, he had tried to force it back in while he attempted to make sure the gun was secure.

Disappointment wasn’t even the word for what he had missed. The mark had been angry, had realized that he was in trouble and the FBI would soon be visiting him. They hadn’t even made it out of the building. Eliot thought that he was restrained. Only he wasn’t and had tried to take out his anger on Nate and Sophie, punching Sophie in the face and shooting Nate in the leg.

He was lucky, damn lucky that time. When would his luck run out? The rain outside was a welcome distraction. Hardison looked up when he saw the lightning flash across the sky. They were safe and sound in the room, but only if Eliot did his job. He hadn’t. The guilt was killing him.

 

Hardison

The guilt was killing him. He had missed that the mark owned a gun. Somehow, some way he had missed it. It was there. The guy had a concealed weapons permit. Hardison had no idea how he had missed it. He was thorough, very thorough. Sometimes almost too thorough. Too much information on the screen to discern. One small piece of paper had been missed. And Nate had almost paid for it with his life.

He hadn’t been able to make it inside fast enough. Looking at the feeds from the building, he noticed that the guy had Sophie, had wrapped his arm around her middle, pushing her along. The con was over, man. It was over. How had he escaped? He was restrained.

Hardison started yelling Nate to tell him that Sophie was in trouble. Yelling in the comm, Eliot sprinted off with Parker on his heels. Nate had come from the other side of the building to head them off, not knowing there was a gun. Eliot always assumed in every job there could be a weapon.

Sophie fought the guy off, earning a punch to the face for her trouble. People were screaming and scrambling out of the lobby as fast as they could. But there were too many people to get out of the way. Nate pushed and pulled until he had almost made it to Sophie. He was too late though. The gun came out of the jacket and was pointed at Sophie. Eliot didn’t know it was pointing at Sophie. He did not know what Hardison saw.

He never ran so fast in his life after that gun appeared. He didn’t care about himself, only he had to get to his team. He blamed himself for not seeing enough. Parker was so close to the action. She’d jump right in too and that worried him. She had no sense when it came to danger sometimes. Eliot didn’t either. Nate was just as bad. Sophie wasn’t, but with the three others, she sometimes took chances. Too many chances.

The con was done, dammit. They had won. They had caught the bad guy and he was going to pay. Hardison had heard the shot because he was just outside the doors. Eliot flew through the air, pushing Parker aside. She was out of the way. Nate dove for Sophie and the bystander instinctively, pushing them out of the way. It was almost like in those Matrix movies, things happening in slow motion in his brain.

He must have screamed Nate a thousand times before bursting into the lobby. There was so much blood. Too much blood. He hated blood. Sure, Eliot sometimes bled from places he did not want to discuss. Most of the time though Eliot would grin like it was fun. This was so not fun.

Parker was down, Nate was down, Sophie was lying beneath him with the bystander pushed to the side. Eliot came in like a truck before Hardison had time to gesture much less move. The mark’s head bounced off the marble floor with a sickening thud. Hardison didn’t know if the guy was dead or not. It was the scream that came from Eliot that scared him the most. The pain, the anguish poured out of Eliot like nothing he had ever seen from the hitter.

Sophie kicked his butt into gear by screaming herself.

“Hardison, 911, now,” while she crawled out from underneath Nate.

Even though he heard sirens off in the distance, Hardison dialed anyway, just in case it was just the cops.

“Fuck, that really hurt,” Nate said above the chaos of the room.

Thank the lord he was conscious. Parker limped over to him, not putting much pressure on her ankle. Her arms went around him for support. Burying her head in his chest, he just held her as the police arrived. Sophie and a few others had already started to apply pressure to the wound. That was close, too close.

Parker murmured into his chest as the paramedics stabilized Nate for transport.

“So much blood. Nate’s blood. We didn’t make it. We didn’t make it in time,” she chanted.

“He’s gonna be OK. See. He’s gonna be OK, Parker. Just hold on. Let’s get that ankle looked at.”

Eliot still sat on the floor, staring at nothing. The police were attempting to question him. Thank goodness the FBI showed up. Their favorite agent, McSweeten, was there, so it took no time for Hardison to deflect the attention to get his team out of there. McSweeten looked so concerned for Parker, but he had to get her out before she fell apart. The FBI agent understood and said he’d contact them later for a statement.

“Eliot, we have to go to the hospital,” Sophie, blood still covering her hands, urged the hitter as they took Nate off in the ambulance.

Eliot sat and stared.

“We have to go,” she said as she knelt down and grabbed his hand. He didn’t move.

Bending down, Eliot slammed his shoulder into the ground, finally popping the shoulder back into place. How on earth had the man sat there in that much pain? Sophie almost crumbled to the ground, but Hardison caught her just in time.

 

Parker

They wouldn’t make it. She knew it. There was no way that either she or Eliot was fast enough to reach the lobby in time. Nate and Sophie were nowhere to be found. Sophie wasn’t answering her comm, Nate raging at them to talk to him. Hardison was in the van, switching from computer to the screens, frantic to find the mark.

He was out of commission from getting hit a day earlier. He must have a concussion, she thought. There was no way he’d be sidelined unless that was the case. He must have lied that he was OK. Nate had agreed to bring him along, but only if he stayed in the van. She had seen Hardison downing pills with his orange soda not long before they arrived to finish off the mark.

Eliot was three or four steps in front of her, moving his head from side to side, hoping that he’d spot the mark first and fix the situation. The bad guy wasn’t supposed to break free of the restraints. Two guards knocked out and restraints lying on the floor told them that the guy sucked. Why didn’t he stay down? He dressed up in suits and took people’s money all because of some water rights.

“Bad guy,” Parker yelled into the comms, hoping they’d hear her.

She spotted him, back to her, in the lobby. She had only noticed him because Sophie was standing, struggling directly in front of him. Those red pumps stood out like a beacon. Then Sophie went down, holding her face, it looked. Eliot sped up, having heard her.

Not more than three or four steps into the lobby though, everything changed. She couldn’t lose them. They were her family, the only family she had. This was wrong, so wrong. She was the thief, the bad guy, the person who should suffer for what was happening. She had restrained the guy. It was her fault he got away. She should know how to fasten restraints on a bad guy; she’d been in them enough herself to know what to do.

She doesn’t know if it was Eliot or Hardison that screamed gun. It was pointed directly at whoever was in front of him. There were too many people. People were going to die and it was her fault. Nate must have heard it, must have been nearer than they were, because he was there in a split second after gun was yelled. Where he had come from, she didn’t know.

Bodies went flying, the gun went off. She hadn’t cared that Eliot had pushed her out of the way. She knew she was too late. Nate had gotten there a second sooner. Blood went everywhere. It wasn’t like on the boat when Nate had gotten shot. They didn’t even know until they were safely aboard the helicopter. She had almost jumped out when Sophie had said something. Eliot’s strong hand on her made her hesitate. What good would it do Nate to jump out of a helicopter while he was surrounded by like a thousand cops?

A second later, it must have been a second, Eliot crashed into the mark so hard she thought he had broken the guy’s neck. The gun went flying across the marble floor, out of reach of the bad guy. Hardison appeared in her sight just as the gun skidded to a stop. She was never so glad to see him, ever. He was safe; Eliot took the bad guy down. Only all was not well.

It was still chaos in the lobby as people ran for safety. Parker figured out in Eliot’s haste to get her out of harm’s way, the ankle suffered the consequences. As she attempted to put pressure on it, it gave way. Maybe it was broken? She did not care. All she cared about was Nate. God there was so much blood.

Eliot sat on the ground, shoulder hanging at an odd angle. It took Sophie a second to crawl out from underneath the mastermind. Limping over, she stared at the blood covering Sophie, the blood covering Eliot, the blood covering Nate and lost it. She didn’t sign up for this job to lose the people she had come to love and cherish. They couldn’t lose Nate, she couldn’t lose him.

“Fuck, that really hurt,” Nate managed to say as Sophie applied pressure to the leg.

The breath that Parker had been holding came out in a whoosh, making her dizzy. Hardison was there to catch her. Someone would always be there to catch her now. They took jobs that sometimes made them encounter weapons. They needed safe jobs, calm jobs.

Shit, who was she kidding? That would never happen.

She burrowed her head into Hardison’s strong chest, hoping that she could stop crying before anyone else saw.

“So much blood. Nate’s blood. We didn’t make it. We didn’t make it in time,” she chanted.

“He’s gonna be OK. See. He’s gonna be OK, Parker. Just hold on. Let’s get that ankle looked at.”

There were police and finally the FBI arrived, taking over. Her buddy FBI agents helped out too. It all came together at least. Who cared about the ankle? Not her.

Sophie had urged Eliot to get up so they could go after Nate. The paramedics had taken off so quickly that no one else had gone with him. Only Eliot wasn’t moving. Parker had seen him trying to get the shoulder back where it belonged.

“Eliot, we have to go to the hospital,” Sophie, blood still covering her hands, urged the hitter as they took Nate off in the ambulance.

Eliot sat and stared.

“We have to go,” she said as she knelt down and grabbed his hand. He didn’t move.

Bending down, Eliot slammed his shoulder into the ground, finally popping the shoulder back into place. How on earth had the man sat there in that much pain? Sophie almost crumbled to the ground, but Hardison caught her just in time. Parker hung onto the other side of Hardison as much as she could.

Oh god, I wasn’t fast enough, she thought. I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t smart enough. What if Nate died? No, no, no, she thought. He was going to be OK. That’s right. OK. They all were.

 

Sophie

Her cheek still hurt a bit, but nothing makeup couldn’t cover. It seemed like days before the blood under her fingernails was gone though. That she couldn’t just cover up and forget about.

The other, younger team members were wary of her. She’d love to just yell at them, to tell them to get on with it. Only she couldn’t just get on with it. The mark had a gun. She missed it. That was her job, not to miss how the mark was feeling.

It shocked her when he appeared directly behind her, dragging her across the lobby. People stopped and stared, then moved away quickly when they noticed that she was not leaving on her own.

“Let go,” she yelled.

It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the rest to pass. Realizing that he wasn’t going to get out of that lobby with her in tow, he turned her and landed the punch to her cheek. Payback is really a bitch.

The gun appeared, Nate tackled and her world almost tumbled down. This was her area of expertise. Sophie had never picked up that the mark could be a violent man. Sure, he was desperate. The FBI was on their way to arrest him. Parker had restrained him. When everyone’s back was turned though, he escaped. Parker would blame herself. Eliot would blame himself. Hardison would blame himself for having to sit in the van. Nate, the planner, would blame himself that the plan fell through.

Blood, Nate’s blood covered her hands as she looked his leg over after he had managed to tackle her and a bystander.

“Fuck, that really hurt,” Nate managed to say as Sophie applied pressure to the leg.

Eliot had come in like a truck and knocked the bad guy down, gun sliding across the lobby. Something was wrong with him too as he just sat there, arm hanging. Parker limped her way over, not putting much weight on one of her ankles. Hardison was still not over the knock to the head from the day before.

“He’s gonna be OK. See. He’s gonna be OK, Parker. Just hold on. Let’s get that ankle looked at.”

There were police and finally the FBI arrived, taking over. Their local FBI agents helped out. Her cheek throbbed, but it all came together.

Sophie had urged Eliot to get up so they could go after Nate. The paramedics had taken off so quickly that no one else had gone with him. Only Eliot wasn’t moving.

“Eliot, we have to go to the hospital,” Sophie, blood still covering her hands, urged the hitter as they took Nate off in the ambulance.

Eliot sat and stared.

“We have to go,” she said as she knelt down and grabbed his hand. He didn’t move.

Bending down, Eliot slammed his shoulder into the ground, finally popping the shoulder back into place. How on earth had the man sat there in that much pain? Sophie almost crumbled to the ground, but Hardison caught her just in time. Parker hung onto the other side of Hardison as much as she could.

 

Nate

God his leg hurt. The doctor told him a couple more weeks and he would be up and about. It was a graze. More blood than he thought could happen. Not much muscle damage and minimal scarring. You’d think he was dying the way the team was treating him.

Sophie sometimes didn’t know what to say to him and would stare off into the distance. Eliot waited on him hand and feet, giving him glares now and then. Parker would awkwardly pat him on the head occasionally. Hardison would smile his way, then grimace when Nate moved an inch.

They were all driving him crazy. They were all there when the doctor said he’d been alright given time off to heal. Sure, it drove him stir crazy to be off his feet. He’d kept himself busy by doing paperwork, catching up on reading and watching sports with the guys.

Dinner had been a quiet occasion the past few nights. They all stayed, asked to pass the salt or whatever they needed, but no small talk. No Hardison complaining about something Eliot had done. No Parker trying to get someone to explain something to her she didn’t understand. No Sophie laughing at some joke he told or some gesture one of the others made. He wanted his damn family back.

Throwing caution to the wind, Nate threw his coffee cup as hard as he could against the wall to get their attention. Eliot jumped up, standing ready to defend them against all intruders. Parker also jumped up, fists at attention. Hardison just sat, probably being the least surprised, but still flinching anyway. The only person who did not move a muscle was Sophie. Now that worried him.

“OK, now I’m hurt. It’s not that bad. Would you all just please go back to your regular jobs before you drive me crazy?”

They all looked at him in amazement.

“But you say we drive you crazy anyway,” Parker answered.

“Well, you do. But this, this is just not right.”

“Not right? Do you realize what happened? I was watching. Do you?” Hardison said, tears forming in his eyes.

“Nate, you went down for something that should have been my responsibility,” Eliot added.

“I screwed up. He got loose,” Parker added.

“I should have had more surveillance in that building,” Hardison concluded.

They all started talking at once, pointing, gesturing, arguing, and almost pleading about what went wrong.

“Enough, enough,” Nate yelled to get them to calm down.

“It happened. It was no one’s fault. I misjudged the mark. Me. You all did your jobs. I did not.”

They all stared at him, mouths open to say something else.

“No,” Sophie whispered.

They all turned their heads to see Sophie walking their way.

“It was not your fault, Nate. You did not misjudge the mark. It was my job to make sure every one of you knew his state of mind. And because of my personal involvement with you, I put you in danger.”

“I would have done the same thing in Nate’s place, Sophie. So would Parker, so would Hardison. This is not about you sleeping with Nate.”

Nate’s hands shook at Eliot’s admission. It was always in the back of his mind that his relationship or whatever they were calling it could get Nate in trouble. Working with her and having her in his life might cause issues between the five of them. Eliot had once warned him that it might be a mistake mixing business and pleasure.

“Sophie, it was a con gone wrong. It has nothing to do with Nate and you.”

“But it does. Every time now, he won’t trust me to do my job. He’ll think he has to come in and save me every single time I find myself in a spot of trouble. How do you think that will affect the dynamics of the team? What if he has to choose to save me over one of you?”

Nate had risen right as they started arguing. He still wasn’t steady on his feet and was using crutches to get around. The crutches were on the other side of the couch so he had nothing to steady himself. Just thinking about having to choose one over the other made him woozy. He never thought about it that way. Would he ever have to do that? As he started to fall, all four rushed in to help. Hardison and Parker made it first because they were closest. The other two weren’t far behind.

It was like the five of them were in a huddle now, with Sophie being the closest against his side.

“It’s just, I can’t do this alone. Neither can any of you. It worked. It all worked this time. We’ll work better, faster, smarter.”

“Group hug,” Hardison announced and brought Parker close to the others.

Eliot hugged Sophie’s back which in turn made her cry all that more. Parker snuggled against his other side. Hardison’s long arms enveloped them all.

“No one else is getting hurt, do you understand, people?” Hardison told them.

“Guys?” Nate said. “I really do need to sit down.”

They all laughed, wiped tears from their eyes (all except Eliot of course, but Hardison might have seen something) and helped Nate back to his seat.

Instead of moving back away from him, they moved Nate to the middle of the sofa. Sophie plastered herself onto one side of him, while Parker snuggled up against the other. Hardison managed to squeeze himself beside Parker. Eliot sat on the arm next to Sophie.

“We need a bigger sofa,” Eliot announced.

“Come over and sit on my lap, Sparky,” Parker joked.

He did as he was told, making Parker giggle out loud, with her poking him in the sides.

“Watch the leg,” Nate said, exasperated with the children’s antics.

Sophie pulled his head down into a quick kiss before smiling at him.

“Y’all nasty,” Hardison said, still attempting to get Eliot up.

“Feeling neglected?” Eliot asked him.

“Me? Oh, hell no. Get off me. You crazy, you know that? You did not just try to kiss me, Eliot. What is Parker going to say?”

“Can I watch?”

“Oh Parker,” Nate said, pushing her off of him.

“Might be interesting,” Sophie added.

“Really?” Nate had to add.

“As I said, all of you are nasty. Just get up so I can make some popcorn.”

“Oh popcorn,” they all yelled.

“I wanna pick the movie,” Parker wanted them all to know.

“No,” they all said in unison.

“Just because the last time I picked Glitter.”

“Your taste in movies is horrible, mamma,” Hardison yelled from the kitchen.

“Please don’t make me watch Star Wars one more time?” she answered.

“Hey, that’s a classic,” Eliot wanted everyone else to know.

Nate and Sophie took a moment to look at each other, not communicating verbally. He loved it that he and the grifter were pretty much on the same page lately. She could read his moods, he could mostly read hers. Throwing the coffee cup was for her, to get her mind off of what happened.

“Oh, let’s watch North by Northwest. Cary Grant, people,” Hardison said as he picked up the DVD.

Sophie nodded his way, while Eliot and Parker argued with Hardison on the choice.

“Sounds perfect,” Sophie agreed with the hacker.

“If I turn the lights down, there better not be any making out, got it?”

Nate rolled his eyes and agreed.


End file.
